Photo navigation

Dancers perform for the Arirang festival at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang to celebrate the 95th birth anniversary of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung on April 14, 2007. Thousands of North Koreans paid their respects to the communist state's late founder Kim Il-Sung as the capital took on a festival atmosphere for his 95th birth anniversary. Families, with the men in suits and ties and the women in colorful traditional gowns, took leisurely strolls across Pyongyang where cherry blossoms were in bloom on one of the most important dates on its calendar. (PHILIPPE AGRET/AFP/Getty Images)

In this December 1945 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, leader Kim Il Sung (second person from left) debates about the draft of the written decision of the 3rd Central Expansion Committee of the Communist Party of North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

In this 1963 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, Kim Jong Il (left) takes part of a souvenir picture with leader Kim Il Sung and his sister, Kim Kyong Hui at the yard. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

Photo released by the Korea News Service dated October 1980 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (R) and father Kim Il-Sung (front), attending an evening party to celebrate the 6th Korean Worker's Party convention. Kim Jong-Il was re-elected as head of the country's powerful National Defense Commission, Pyongyang Radio said 05 September, as CNN reported the title of president had been abolished in defense to Kim Il-Sung's father who died in 1994, leaving Kim Il-Sung as effective head of state. (AFP/Getty Images)

Photo taken in 1992 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (R) and then-leader, Jong-il's father, Kim Il-Sung (L) inspecting a soccer ground in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-Il was named General Secretary of the ruling Workers Party 08 October, one of two top posts left vacant since the death of the elder Kim in 1994. (AFP/Getty Images)

North Korean performers sing in front of portraits of founding president Kim Il-Sung (L) and his son Kim Jong-Il during celebrations to mark the 100th birth anniversary of the country's founding leader Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang on April 16, 2012. The commemorations came just three days after a satellite launch timed to mark the centenary fizzled out embarrassingly when the rocket apparently exploded within minutes of blastoff and plunged into the sea. AFP PHOTO / PEDRO UGARTE

Thousands of people kneel down or stand in front of a giant statue (the Mansudae monument) of North Korean President Kim Il Sung to mourn the death of late President at the Korean Revolution Museum in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 09, 1994. The late Kim died of a heart attack on July 08, after his death Kim Il-sung is named "eternal president" of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (AFP/Getty Images)

North Koreans pay their respects before a monument of Kim Il Sung at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, Thursday April 14, 2011. People began to celebrate on the eve of 99th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birthday. April 15 is called "The Day of the Sun" in honor of the former guerrilla fighter who founded North Korea in 1948. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

North Koreans bow in front of the statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il at Mansu Hill as it snows in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

North Korean children sweep the steps near a giant mosaic of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, right, and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

North Koreans stand before a roadside mosaic of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to pay their respects on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

This photo taken 28 February 2004 at the North Korean embassy in Beijing shows portraits on the wall of North Korea's late leader Kim Il-Sung (L) and current leader Kim Jong-Il. It was reported 17 November 2004 that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has made his trademark visit to a frontline army unit amid reports that his portrait had been removed from some public places. (KIM JAE-HWAN/AFP/Getty Images)

North Koreans ride past a poster of the late leader Kim Il-Sung in the town of Kaesong, near the Demilitarized Zone at Panmanjon in North Korea, 27 March 2005. Kim Il-Sung ruled North Korea from the nation's founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. His son, Kim Jong-Il, succeeded him in power although he remains "president for life", as enshrined in the constitution, and his image still appears everywhere around the country. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

In this May 24, 1990 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, leader Kim Il Sung has a speech at the first session of the 9th Supreme People's Assembly held at Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

A portrait of North Korean President Kim Il-sung hangs from the facade of an official building in Pyongyang 09 September 1988 while a float to the glory of the regime passes through a huge crowd during a monster parade celebrating the secretive Stalinist nation's 40th anniversary. Kim Il-sung (1912-94) founded the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in 1932, and led a long struggle against the Japanese. He proclaimed the Republic in 1948 and became effective head of state, establishing a unique personality cult and a Stalinist political-economic system. Kim named his son, Kim Jong-il as his successor. After his death, Kim Il-sung was named "eternal president" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (ROBERTO COLOMA/AFP/Getty Images)

Mikhail Gorbachev (L), General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and Nikolai Ryzhkov (R), member of the Political Bureau of the CPSU Central committee, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, welcome Kim Il Sung (C), General Secretary of the worker's Party of Korea Central Committee, President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in St George's Hall of Moscow's Kremlin on October 22, 1986. (Photo credit should read /AFP/Getty Images)

Norodom Sihanouk, former King of Cambodia (l) is welcomed 22 April 1975 in Pyongyang by North Korean President and "Great Leader" Kim Il-Sung (r). Sihanouk was deposed 18 March 1970 by forces of Lt-Gen. Lon Nol. The ostensible motive for the coup was Sihanouk's alleged collaboration with the Vietnamese communist revolutionaries who used Cambodian territory for sanctuaries. Informed of the coup while on a diplomatic mission, Prince Sihanouk formed an alliance with North Viet Nam and with an underground Marxist insurgency group, the Khmers Rouges, led by Pol Pot. (Photo credit should read AFP/Getty Images)

This undated photo shows North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung (L) as he signs a document in Seoul, Korea. North Korean troops invaded South Korea 25 June 1950, marking the beginning of the Korean War. (AFP/Getty Images)

Part of a welcome for the United States-Soviet commission on Korea on their arrival in Pyongyang, northern Korea, July 23, 1947 was this parade of Korean communists carrying huge portraits of Stalin and Kim IL Sung. The commission visited Pyong Yang, 165 miles north of Seoul, for the purpose of getting views of political groups on the prospecting. (AP Photo)

North Korean demonstrators carry portrait of that countryís Communist Prime Minister, Kim Il Sung, during May Day festivities in Japan, May 2, 1959. In background is the Japanese National Diet (parliament) building in Tokyo. (AP Photo)

In this 1967 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, military parade celebrates the 19th anniversary of the creation of the (North) Korean People's Army performed at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

In this 1967 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, military parade celebrates the 19th anniversary of the creation of the (North) Korean People's Army performed at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

In this November 1970 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, women from Pyongyang textile plant study the report of the fifth rally of Workers' Party of (North) Korea by leader Kim Il Sung. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

North Korean communist leader Kim Il Sung, left, with Indonesian President Sukarno, was conferred an 'honorary degree of doctor of engineering' by the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 15, 1965. (AP Photo)

In this October 4, 1965 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, Norodom Sihanouk, king of Cambodia, arrives in Pyongyang Airport (Sunan International Airport) and inspects together with Leader Kim Il Sung the land, sea and air forces of North Korean People's Army Honor Guard. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

In this September 1983 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, leader Kim Il Sung cuts the tape at the formal opening of the Bridge of Allegiance in Taedong in Pyongyan, North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

North Koreans wait at a train station bearing the portrait of the late leader Kim Il-Sung across from the Chinese border town of Tu Men in China's northeast Jilin province 12 October 2006. A collapsing North Korea is a nightmare China hopes will never come true, as it could lead to military and political chaos on its doorstep, analysts said as North Korea's declared nuclear test this week highlighted an entire range of violent scenarios, one scarier than the other, and all with direct implications for China's national security. (PETER PARKS/AFP/Getty Images)

A portrait of Kim il-Sung hangs at the train station in Pyongyang on April 11, 2012. North Korea is counting down to the 100th anniversary of its founder's birth Kim Il-Sung on April 15 with top-level meetings and a controversial rocket launch scheduled in coming days to bolster his grandson's credentials. (PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

A soldier stands in front of a portrait of former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung September 16, 2002 in Pyongyang, North Korea. The country recently hosted a historic visit from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who spoke with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il about normalizing diplomatic relations between the countries. (Japan Pool/Getty Images)

Comrade Kim Il Sung at the age of 16 in 1928. (AP Photo)

Kim II Sung, chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and Premier of the cabinet of the D.P.R.K., Apr. 1962. (AP Photo)

In this 1995 photo from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, distributed by Korea News Service, portrait of leader Kim Il Sung produced after 100 days from his death. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP Images)

Dressed in a black western suit, the dead body of North Korean President Kim Il Sung lies in a flower-bedecked open coffin at his presidential palace in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 11, 1994. The late Kim died of a heart attack on July 08, after his death, Kim Il-sung is named "eternal president" of Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of North Korean children dance and hold up colored cards to form a picture of Kim Il Sung at a rally in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Friday, April 28, 1995. For outsiders, the personality cults that North Korea has built around late leader Kim Il Sung and his son and apparent heir, Kim Jong Il, are almost unimaginable in their slavishness. But for North Koreans, worshipping the Kims is as much a part of life as breathing. (AP Photo/John Leicester)

Photos: Founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung’s 101st Birthday

Kim Il-Sung, born April 15, 1912, founded the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in 1932 and led a long struggle against the Japanese. He proclaimed the Republic in 1948 and became the effective head of state of North Korea, establishing a unique personality cult and a Stalinist political-economic system. Kim Il-Sung ruled North Korea from the nation's founding in 1948 until his death in 1994 and named his son Kim Jong-Il as his successor. After his death, Kim Il-Sung was named "eternal president" of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.